Top 7 SoCal restaurants for big portions

Finding a restaurant the serves great food and plenty of it isn't so easy. But some local hot spots are serving up more bite for your buck.C & O Cucina in Marina Del Rey has it all, including big portions of pasta.

"Some restaurants have low prices. Some restaurants have good food. Some restaurants have big portions," says C & O Cucina's Robert Singer. "I think we have it all, and then we mix it up with lots of fun with our honor wine bars, where you can actually help yourself to the wine and at the end of your meal, you tell your server how much you took, it's all on the honor system."

"It is on the menu as literally, 'gargantuan,'" says Citysearch Editor Tara de Lis. "The prices are very reasonable. There's no pasta above $20, and that includes the gargantuan portion size."

Robin's Wood Fire BBQ & Grill in Pasadena offers a big meal for a small price.

"Let me tell you, the best value for the money is the garbage can combo platter," says de Lis. "29.95 easily feeds a family of four. You get beef ribs, pork ribs, tri-tip, sausage, chicken, the works."

"It's stir-fried vegetables, and then we cook it with the broth," says Asahi Ramen's James Song. "It's a lot of vegetables, a lot of chicken and a lot of soup. It tastes really good."

"The best thing is they're big enough to share," says Tara de Lis. "This place is really popular with college students, but let me tell you this is not the ramen of your dorm years. This is the real deal. And the beauty of the place is that there's nothing on the menu over $10."

For big portions of meat in Burbank, go no farther than Picanha Churrascaria.

"It is an endless parade of meat brought out to your table on skewers, sliced on sight until you take the little cube in front of you and turn it over to red, and that tells them to stop," says de Lis. "One Citysearch user said it made him feel like a king eating there."

Lunch is $16.95. Dinner is between $27.95 and $29.95.

Rounding out the Citysearch Top 7 restaurants for big portions are: El Tepeyac, Back Home in Lahaina, and Stonefire Grill.

In Orange County, check out Taps Fish House & Brewery in Brea.

In the Inland Empire, try Centro Basco in Chino.

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